Studia Islandica - 01.06.1956, Page 18

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6. A matter of no small interest is the relative use of
parataxis and hypotaxis by the different authors. For
both the epic part and direct speech the percentages are
listed, in a grading scale.
Droplaugarsona saga Parataxla % (eplc part) 63 Hypotaxls % (dlrect speech) 59
Heiðarvíga saga 60 62
Njáls saga 62 62
Gísla saga 60 62
Fóstbrœðra saga 53 71
Víga-Glúms saga 52 64
Víga-Glúms saga exc. 13-16 ... 50 66
Víga-Glúms saga 13-16 67 54
Víga-Glúms saga 16 64 53
Reykdœla saga exc. 26 51 72
Reykdoela saga 26 52 70
Hrafnkels saga 51 73
Laxdœla saga 45 81
Egils saga 45 76
Grettis saga 44 80
Of the three sagas, generally considered as being the
oldest, Dropl.s. and Hevðarv.s. are heading this list. It
is perhaps not too hazardous to see in this preference
for parataxis an archaic feature, marking the beginning
of saga-writing; or at least to evaluate these texts as
specimens of unsophisticated language.
Fóstbr.s. on the other hand clearly goes with another
category, the ‘middle group’.
The last group of three sagas stands in opposition to
those at the top.
A strikingly exceptional position is held by V. Gl. ch.
13-16 in that they surpass even Dropl.s. in the use of
paratctxis, and widely differ from the rest of the saga.
7. A survey of the epic narrative in all texts brings to
light that the number of chapters with an average
length of periods amounting to less than 15 syllables is
small. Out of 205 chapters tabulated only fourteen
show this low average.